Philly Confidential

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A prom celebration on Myrtlewood Street near Cumberland ended in gunfire Thursday night, which left two 13-year-old girls hospitalized after being caught in the crossfire.

Neighbors, and many children, were crowded onto the Strawberry Mansion block around 6 p.m. when a group of men were involved in a shoot out that traveled along the street, Chief Inspector Scott Small said.

One of the teenage girls was shot in her eye, she was taken to Temple University Hospital and was listed in critical condition as of 8 p.m.

The second victim was wounded in her chest, head and stomach and was listed in stable condition, police said.

"It makes absolutely no sense at all. This block was loaded with children," police commissioner Charles Ramsey said as a young boy scurried past police bouncing his basketball near a hop-scotch grid on the street. Red, white and blue streamers that were draped over the street swayed overhead in the breeze as neighbors looked on. "At what point does it stop?" Ramsey asked.

Police from the Central Detective Division remained on the scene around 7:45 p.m. canvassing the block for evidence as dusk settled over the neighborhood.

Cops from the 39th police district took a 17-year-old boy into custody on Cumberland Street near Natrona after witnesses positively identified him, Small said.

Private surveillance cameras in the area may have recorded part of the incident, and police were reviewing the footage Thursday night.